Chanakya Marks 40 Years of Craft

Indian textile and embroidery atelier, Chanakya in Byculla, which has worked with over 50 global luxury brands, including Dior, Prada, and Fendi, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with three unique exhibitions across Mumbai. Expect a garden of flowers reinterpreted as ensembles, globes depicting rivers, lakes, homes and the zodiac, brought to life with woven threads, and towering Saptamatrika sculptures, handwoven entirely from bamboo, raffia, and cotton. The amalgamation of craft forms such as basketry, knotting, coiling, herringbone and twill weaving, beading, and embroidery techniques leaves one spellbound by the sheer eye for detail and colour pairings, all crafted by hand. 

The milestone is a double one, with 40 years since the atelier’s founding and 10 years of the Chanakya Foundation and School of Craft, which trains and empowers women artisans to keep more than 5,000 years of cultural heritage alive. Each of the three exhibitions, En Route at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum (September 8-October 20), Garden of Gestures at the Chanakya Ateliers (September 9-30) and Belong at Experimenter Colaba (September 10-October 17), showcases Chanakya’s work across fashion, education, research, artistic collaboration, and the evolving language of textile-making.

Founded in 1986 in Mumbai by her father, Vinod Shah, Karishma Swali, Creative Director, Chanakya International and Chanakya School of Craft; Founder and Chair, Chanakya Foundation, today continues to spearhead the craft and textile powerhouse and is instrumental in making it a renowned force in global creative art and couture and championing the brilliance of Indian craft.

Speaking at the official unveiling at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Swali says, “For us, when we were talking about what it would mean to celebrate 40 years, one of the first ideas or themes was really for the people of Mumbai to experience craft and textile and what making in India has been.” En Route, first commissioned for the Vatican Apostolic Library in 2025, is making its India debut.

Developed in collaboration with Maria Grazia Chiuri, Fendi’s chief creative officer and the former creative director of Dior, who was also present for the unveiling, the artworks trace six pioneering 19th-century women travellers through five embroidered maps and two hand-crafted globes. For the homecoming in Mumbai, Swali has added two newly commissioned maps developed with the Museum’s rare map collection. The new embroidered maps trace the city from Heptanesia, its origins as seven islands, through reclamation, trade, the cotton mills and the Art Deco seafront. A truly unique experience to view craft as a living, evolving, and limitless language.